It is generally accepted that the requirements for telecommunications networks and broad band services are placing increased demands on the ability of various components to operate at greater speeds and higher bandwidths. To satisfy this new requirement, there is increased use of optical fiber technology in telecommunications networks.
However, telecommunication systems still use many conventional electronic devices which cannot operate with optical signals. Therefore, to process the information being transmitted, electronic-to-optical and optical-to-electronic conversions are required.
Clearly, any device which reduces the number of conversions required would provide advantages not currently attainable.
Currently, bistable optical switches which have low switching energy are available. In one such device, the optical switching energy is achieved by the use of a material capable of absorbing light to generate a photocurrent. A voltage responsive to the photocurrent is applied to a structure having a semiconductor quantum well region to cause the optical absorption of the semiconductor quantum well region to vary in response to variations in the photocurrent. Additionally, the variations in absorption in the semiconductor quantum well region can influence the absorption of the material capable of absorbing light so as to provide a feedback path which results in nonlinear and bistable optical operating conditions.